Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Sharon Osbourne Undergoes Double Mastectomy
Cancer survivor Sharon Osbourne has reportedly had preventive double mastectomy surgery after discovering she had the breast cancer gene.
Sharon, wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne, had a previous battle with colon cancer a decade ago and underwent the double mastectomy in order to prevent the possibility of developing breast cancer, according to the Toronto Sun.

The paper reports that Osbourne told Britain's Hello! magazine, "As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought: 'The odds are not in my favor'. I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud: I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy." more on this story



Aerosmith Reveal Street Show and TV Broadcast Details
Aerosmith have revealed the details for their special performance on the streets of Boston today, November 5th and also announced that the show will be broadcast on AXS TV.

The show will take place at noon on the streets at a location that is special to the band: 1325 Commonwealth Avenue, where the band lived in an apartment from 1970-1972 and where they wrote their early classic hits.

The band will be introduced by New England Patriots President Jonathan Kraft and a couple of Patriots captains, along with a group of Patriots cheerleaders. more on this story




Pete Townshend Walks Off Stage During The Who's Tour Kickoff
Pete Townshend walked off the stage during the opening show of The Who's 'Quadrophenia + More' tour last week.

The band was playing the tour's kick off show at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fl last Thursday (November 1st) when Townshend walked off the stage as the band was playing "You Better You Bet."

Apparently, the volume on stage was too loud for Townshend who has a history of tinnitus, according to Simon Townshend, second guitarist and Pete's brother, who tweeted after the show, "Pete walked off tonight because it was too loud. was a good show but had some technical problems." South Florida.com has more details about the incident here.




Iommi Doesn't See Ward Reuniting With Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi doesn't see that it is possible for Bill Ward to return to the group and take part of their current reunion.

Iommi was interviewed by Blairing Out and was asked about Ward, as well as the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer charity and his own battle with cancer.

When asked about Ward reuniting with the group he said, "We'll always have a heart for Bill," he said. "But I think it's gone past that now. It's gone on so long that I don't see that happening at the moment. Maybe at some point we might do it." Watch the full interview here.




Blue Oyster Cult's 40th Anniversary Reunion Show Taking Place Tonight
The original lineup of Blue Oyster Cult will be reuniting tonight, November 5th, to play a special 40th Anniversary show.

The band were originally scheduled to play the show at the Best Buy Theatre in New York City but the show was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy.

Now the band is set to take the venue's stage tonight with the original lineup of Eric Bloom, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, Allen Lanier, Joe Bouchard and Albert Bouchard. more on this story




KISS' Peter Criss Scores Top 10 New York Times Best Seller Debut
(hennemusic) Original KISS drummer Peter Criss' new autobiography, "Makeup To Breakup: My Life In And Out Of KISS," has debuted on the New York Times Hardcore Nonfiction Best Sellers List.

Criss' memoir landed in the number 7 position to score the third highest entry of the week.

The memoir is billed as being "from sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll to multiple brushes with death, 'Makeup to Breakup' [is] Peter Criss' unvarnished and eye-opening life story." more on this story




Controversial Guns N' Roses Residency Ad Artwork Changed
(hennemusic) The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas has altered its controversial ads for Guns N' Roses residency at their venue.

"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino regrets that the Guns N' Roses advertising for their current shows has offended any member of the community," the company said in a statement released Friday, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"The resort has decided to further modify the art and began the process of changing the materials." more on this story




Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day Reunion Film Getting Theatrical Encore
For fans that missed their chance to see the Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day reunion concert film in theaters, you are getting another chance with the announcement of an encore theatric event that will take place on November 13th. We were sent these details:

Following the worldwide success of Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day, the cinema concert event which presented live footage of the band's 2007 reunion concert at London's O2 Arena, there has been an enormous response from fans – 1.7 million fans have visited the fan's website. The film was screened in 15,000 cinemas around the world for a strictly limited engagement on Wednesday, October 17, 2012. Fans who were unable to attend the original tribute concert for Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun in 2007, when more than 20 million fans applied for the 18,000 available tickets in a worldwide lottery, finally had the opportunity to see it as if they had front row tickets. The film earned $2 million in a single night and was a phenomenal success.

Omniverse Vision, the UK-based distribution company that released Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day, a two-hour-plus tour de force of the band's signature blues-infused rock 'n' roll, has been working with online marketing specialist Distrify to track the response from fans online via an interactive platform on the Led Zeppelin website. With 100,000 hits a day, including 46,000 searches for show times and 4,000 requests for local screenings, Distrify has been able to compile the information needed for Omniverse Vision executives to agree to schedule encore performances in select markets to meet the demands of Led Zeppelin's fans. There has been overwhelming interest in additional screenings from the U.S., the UK, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Germany, France, Mexico and Australia. more on this story




Exhumed Cancel Canadian Tour Dates After Border Patrol Problems
Exhumed have been forced to cancel a number of tour dates with Napalm Death and Municipal Waste after running into issues with the Canadian border patrol.

Exhumed vocalist/guitarist Matt Harvey explains: "If you have a DUI, like four out of six people in our tour party do, the Canadian border patrol will charge you $200 per person to obtain a 'temporary resident permit' to be in the country, or, if they feel like being d**ks, they can arbitrarily decide to just not let you in. We've never had an issue getting in, but this time they decided to be d**ks.

"The woman we spoke to at customs informed us that we had received too many TRPs in too short of a time and would not be able to apply for any further TRPs until we had all completed their extremely convoluted rehabilitation process. We had to sign documents that legally bound us to leave the country immediately, and stated that if we were found in Canada after being denied entry, we would be arrested. Gnarly. more on this story




More Ozzfest Japan 2013 Details Surface
(hennemusic) More details are being revealed about Ozzfest Japan 2013. This past week, Black Sabbath and Slipknot were the first two acts announced for the event, which will take place on May 11th-12th, 2013 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City (outside Tokyo).

Slipknot will headline on May 11 while Sabbath will headline the May 12 show. "We are excited for the opportunity to bring Ozzfest to Japan for the first time ever," says Sharon Osbourne. "We've got the perfect combination of Western and Japanese bands. Ozzfest is also thrilled to be presenting Black Sabbath's first-ever performance in Japan."

Prior to the Japanese event, Black Sabbath will release their forthcoming album – their first since 1978 – in April. The band is working with producer Rick Rubin on the project. Ticket info and promo video here.




L.A. Guns First Two Albums Remastered
Rock Candy Records have released newly remastered versions of L.A. Guns albums first two studio albums: 1988's self-titled debut and 1989's 'Cocked & Loaded'.

L.A. Guns Features 24-bit remastering from source tapes, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album, new interview with Tracci Guns, enhanced artwork and rare photos spread out over a 16 page full colour booklet. Track Listing: 1. No Mercy 2. Sex Action 3. One More Reason 4. Electric Gypsy 5. Nothing To Lose 6. Bitch Is Back 7. Cry No More 8. One Way Ticket 9. Hollywood Tease 10. Shoot For Thrills 11. Down In The City

Cocked & loaded features 24-bit remastering from source tapes, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album, new interview with Tracci Guns, bonus track, enhanced artwork and rare photos spread out over a 16 page full colour booklet. Track Listing: 1. Letting Go 2. Slap In The Face 3. Rip And Tear 4. Sleazy Come Easy Go 5. Never Enough 6. Malaria 7. The Ballad Of Jane 8. Magdalaine 9. Give A Little 10. I'm Addicted (Guitar Solo) 11. 17 Crash 12. Showdown (Riot On Sunset) 13. Wheels Of Fire Bonus Track: 14. I Wanna Be Your Man more on this story




Michael Schenker Sets CD, DVD, Blu-ray Release
(Noble) inakustik have set a December 3rd UK release of Michael Schenker's "Temple of Rock: Live in Europe" on CD, DVD, Blu-ray and as a Limited Deluxe Edition containing all 3 formats.

This release includes songs performed live in Tilburg, The Netherlands in May 2012, and at London's High Voltage Festival in 2011.

Schenker sees his music as a building block in the construction of the Temple Of Rock. "The Temple is almost finished," explains Michael. "The foundation was laid in the 60s by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. The walls were then built by UFO and others in the 70s. By the 80s it was further reinforced by the likes of the Scorpions, and many more influential rock bands." more on this story




Camper Van Beethoven Returning With New Album
429 Records have set a January 22nd release date for Camper Van Beethoven's new album, La Costa Perdida.

The album features the reunited lineup of Victor Krummenacher (bass, baritone guitar), Greg Lisher (guitars), David Lowery (guitars and vocals), Chris Pedersen (drums), Jonathan Segel (violin , guitar , mandolin, organ , backing vocals) and Michael Urbano (drums and percussion).

Says Victor Krummenacher: "The coolest part was that everything flowed from the fact that these distinctive musicians and personalities sat in the living room. Our music now sounds like four people are writing it. The songs have great energy, but we're more relaxed and stately and a lot more confident. The songwriting here has elements of vintage Camper along with grown-up Camper." more on this story





Aerosmith Release Classic Song Jam For Letterman Online Exclusive
(hennemusic) Aerosmith were the featured guests on The Late Show with David Letterman Thursday night.

On hand to promote this coming Tuesday's release of "Music From Another Dimension," Steven Tyler and Joe Perry chatted with the host before Aerosmith performed a new track, "Lover Alot".

The group also performed a classic as a Letterman online exclusive, digging back to the 70s for their cover of "Train 'Kept A Rollin." Watch it here.




Eddie Vedder Releases Sleeping By Myself Video
(hennemusic) In sync with start of his fall US tour, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder has released a new video from his 2011 "Ukulele Songs" collection.

"Sleeping By Myself" features footage of a ukulele being built from start to finish.

Vedder launched the current leg this past week, touring with regular opener Glen Hansard. The month-long trek wraps up with two shows in Clearwater, FL during the first week of December. Watch the new video here.




Metallica Share Video From Voodoo Concert
(hennemusic) Metallica recently headlined the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans and are now sharing some video from the show.

The band was brought in on a few weeks' notice to top the bill on the second of the three-day event at New Orleans City Park following a cancellation by Green Day, who remain on hiatus as Billie Joe Armstrong continues treatment for substance abuse.

Metallica are now sharing some footage from the event, including "Holier Than Thou" and "All Nightmare Long" in the Tuning room, plus "Harvester Of Sorrow" and "Creeping Death" from the show. Watch it here.




Alice Cooper Releases New Audio Blog Episode
(hennemusic) Alice Cooper recently launched a new weekly audio blog entitled "Me, Alice" and has released the second episode.

"I think a blog is supposed to be written," said Alice in the debut episode, "but I'm a terrible typist, so I figured I'd just spout off at you, instead. I am a techo-tard. You get a lot more me on Nights With Alice Cooper but, as I say, there's always room for more…so thought I'd ramble on about what's going on in my life and head this week."

The second episode, "Me, Alice volume 2," features Cooper checking in from his current UK tour. Check it out here.




W.A.S.P.'s Blackie Lawless Tributes His Late Brother
On Saturday W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless wrote a blog tribute to his brother, Clifford L. Duren, who passed away on Friday. Here is what he had to say on his Facebook page:

For just a moment I'd like to go back to the "Crimson Idol". We were playing in Tillburg last night and I got a phone call from my sister Brenda about 6 PM informing me that our brother had passed away. When we look at death we measure it in one or more stages of life. The death of a parent is the death of our past. The death of a spouse or mate is the death of the present. The death of a child is the death of the future, in that their future will now never happen. The death of my brother represents both the past and the present for me. Part of my childhood is now gone as well as the present.

He was a mentor to me in my early years. Much of the advice he gave me I still use to this day. As a kid, I admired him more than he would ever know. Doing that show last night was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. When we were at the end of the Crimson Idol part of the show, I looked up at one of the screens just as Jonathan was being laid on the bed. I could not control my emotions anymore and walked to the side of the stage and cried.

My brother in some ways was in the story of the "Idol" in the same ways I guess that all siblings compete for their parents attention. As a writer we draw from all the things around us so it's understandable that my relationship with him would be in the story to some degree. Me being the younger brother it's natural to see the older brother as your hero. As a writer I've tried to share myself with you all, even the intimate details of my life to give you a better understanding of who I am so you can better see the man behind the lyrics.

The "Idol" was ultimately a story about love. I write this to say, if there is someone in your life you need to tell that you love them….don't wait.

In Memory of Clifford L. Duren

More next month
B. L.

W.A.S.P. Nation Facebook page.



Bruce Springsteen Performs For Hurricane Relief
(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen was one of several artists to participate in a telethon to raise funds to assist relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Bruce first appeared during an all-star lineup that included Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Joel and Fallon, as the group performed "Under The Boardwalk."

Springsteen and the E Street Band closed out the hour-long broadcast with "Land Of Hope And Dreams."